Lasik | Lasek Problems

Mr Starburst wrote: "You can have quite significant corneal haze, and the patient will still get 6/9 or 6/7.5, hardly ideal, but not as bad as we might have thought"

Listening to David Gartry I wanted to punch his f*cking lights out, because he talks about eye surgery like it's a car or other consumer goods. You can get a better car when newer models come out, but you can't get new eyes. He describes problems from older techniques while neglecting to mention the permanent lifelong damage they've caused. He is nauseating to say the least.

The dismissive comments regarding corneal haze made by David Gartry in this video should outrage any damaged patient, no matter what type of refractive surgery they had.

If I wanted my vision to be "similar" to looking through a net curtain, then I'd buy a veil from a bridal shop, and not pay thousands of pounds for surgery for the same effect!

"This is one of the classic slides from when I first started at Moorfields in '92, of significant corneal haze following a PRK surface laser treatment. You might imagine that the vision there would be extremely poor, but you have to remember, as some of you will know, that this is really very similar to a net curtain, and the vision is not as degraded as you might imagine, in the same way as you could look out from a darkened room into a brightly lit street, and you can see what is going on in the street relatively well This is the same idea. You can have quite significant corneal haze, and the patient will still get 6/9 or 6/7.5, hardly ideal, but not as bad as we might have thought."

Watch from 6.27 to 7.07.

Here is a very sobering youtube clip. The so-called 'health professionals' that ruin so many lives truly disgust me. They are nothing less than outright criminals in my opinion.

OE had tear duct plugs ordered in from the US for my left eye. I received a call to say they had been received and I could arrange an appointment to have them fitted at my local store - Bluewater. However I had an appointment coming up at Harley Street so after a few attempts at contacting the Head office and Bluewater store I was assured that they were being sent from Bluewater to Harley Street, a simple request I thought.

I went to my appointment at Harley Street (yesterday) hoping to have the tear duct fitted, but not only was it not there, they had no idea that it was being sent from Bluewater, even though I was assured by the woman at Bluewater that she had contacted Harley Street to confirm it would be OK to send it.

At my appointment I waited about 20 mins whilst staff rummaged around trying to find these tear duct plugs. They even checked with Bluewater who confirmed they'd been sent.

It's not reassuring that people trust their eyes with this company if they can't even handle a simple request.

Here is some information I've found on ReLEx smile.

Do the OE surgeons follow this 'learning curve' protocol?

Neave, I think this is a question you must ask!


bmctoday.net/crstodayeurope/2012/04/arti...ction-a-new-paradigm

I had Relex Smile performed in St.Vincent Street Glasgow, 6 weeks ago, vision still very poor, hazy, glare - particularly under flourescent lighting. I have developed astigmatism in both eyes. Very unhappy so far and extremely disappointed with results of a technique which is being advertised as safe, reliable and minimally invasive.

Not a lot of info on internet about people's experience of this procedure.

Hi Cilia

Your pre op prescription was similar to mine. We are in the very high risk spectrum for laser eye, but OE never informed this. Post op two ophthalmologists told me that the machine OE used doesn't correctly treat high prescriptions and also it is outdated. It removes approx. 15-16microns of tissue per dioptre. The newer stuff removes approx. 10-12microns per dioptre. So in your case, roughly 135microns was zapped away, plus your flap of approx 100-150microns.

Not to scare you but regression is one of the signs of ectasia. Have you sought a second opinion?

Kind Regards

When I had my initial surgery I was recovering from cancer, I am 38 years old.

In terms of compensation I would like a refund for the treatment. My eyes are constantly dry and extremely sensitive. I was also sold on the fact that OE would look after my eyes for my lifetime, but this email from Stephen Hannan seems to be brushing me off totally.

"From: Stephen Hannan
Sent: 24 November 2014 15:27

Dear Ms H_,
Thank you for your recent email communication which was passed on for my attention in my capacity as the Clinical Services Director.

Having had the opportunity to review your clinical records I note that you underwent Laser Eye Surgery with Optical Express on the 21st September 2010. The aim of the procedure, which was performed without complication by Dr Jonathan Carr, was to improve upon your distance vision by correcting your short-sighted prescription. I have detailed below your pre-treatment prescription;

Right Eye 6/120 -8.75/-0.50*70 6/5
Left Eye 6/120 -9.25/-0.25*145 6/6

Prior to treatment being performed, Dr Carr discussed the procedure and the associated outcomes with you. Having answered all of your questions, you went on to initial and sign the document of Informed Consent and by doing so you demonstrated that you read, understood and were accepting of all possible treatment outcomes.

As a result of regression, which is a consented for outcome of treatment, a percentage of your short-sighted prescription returned. During your most recent assessment with Optical Express on the 27th October 2014, the following prescription was recorded;

Right Eye 6/60 -2.25ds 6/5
Left Eye 6/60 -1.75ds 6/5

In the event that a patient’s prescription should regress consideration can be given to an enhancement procedure. To determine a patients suitability for an enhancement procedure a series of diagnostic scans and tests are carried out. One of the key scans which we look at is known as the Pentacam, which maps the cornea in addition to measuring the depth of the cornea at multiple points across the eye.

On formulating the treatment plan, we understand how much corneal tissue will need to be removed in order to overcome the residual prescription and in your case your corneal thickness would be reduced to a point which is deemed unsafe by our treatment parameters. It is for this reason that further Laser Eye Surgery was not recommended.

In response to your enquiry, in the event that a patient is not clinically suitable for an enhancement procedure, we are not obliged to offer complimentary product whether this be spectacles and or contact lenses. However, in this instance, I would be prepared to send you a three month supply of contact lenses as a gesture of goodwill. Please expect to receive the contact lenses within the next ten working days.

If I can be of any further assistance or if you wish to discuss any aspect of my response, please do not hesitate to contact me. Alternatively, should I not be available, please ask for my colleague, Mr David Mungall who will be pleased to assist.

Yours sincerely,
Stephen Hannan MCOptom
Clinical Services Director

T: +44 (0) 1236 795104 M: +44 (0) 7740 592389
E: stephenhannan@opticalexpress.com"

Hi and welcome to the site, albeit for the wrong reasons!

I experienced the same thing, I knew pretty much a few days after surgery that things were not right, almost exactly the same symptoms as you have, I had the follow up appts with OE and they gave me all the usual bull that it will settle down and I have better than 20/20 vision etc, its just crap they spout to keep you strung along I believe, things may well settle down though as 2 weeks is not a great amount of time, but I would say that if things have no change by 6-8 weeks then its permanent, I had the usual haziness etc but that all went away pretty quickly for me, within a month, but the overall glaring issue was there from day one and has never got better.

I would say keep an eye on things, give it another month or so and see if you get any improvement, if there is none then its probably permanent and you will need to consider your options for what you want to do next. In my own personal experience, and that of lots of other people in our position, OE will probably know if you have permanent damage and try and fob you off at every turn, they may string you along with false promises of hope (they told me some crazy lies) which in my view (and many others) is a delaying tactic used by them to try and ride out the 3 year legal litigation period, if at some point down the road you want to sue them then after this 3 year point it becomes awkward for you, hence that's why they do this.

What type of surgery did you have? do you know what were your eye measurements were before surgery? if you could let us know some info we can help, for instance my own eyes have large pupils, large enough that the laser hardware they used was not suitable for me, and the type of surgery chosen by the surgeon was not correct and furthermore I was not told of or had any of the huge risks discussed with me because I have large pupils, and because of this I am now permanently damaged.

For the meantime I suggest wait for a month or so, the main symptoms will probably go but if you are still left with the bad problems and they are not getting better then you are stuck with it, OE will keep feeding you crap though at each appointment, probably telling you that it can take 18 months or 2 years to get better, this is pure bullshit and designed to string you along closer to that 3 year litigation cut off where they will effectively wash their hands of you (all in my opinion of course!! ) .They may even transfer you to their 'complex case team' at Harley St, again most of this in my experience is to string you along with appointments even more spaced out as they try to get past that 3 year marker.

There are many on this site who have been through it all, its a horrid road but if you do turn out to be another damaged customer of OE then take some comfort in the fact you are not alone (even though they will make out you are the one in a million with serious problems, all lies) as there are thousands in the same position and we are finding a voice together now with the campaign.